Hi, Butch,

Welcome to Yamaha Synth!

The only thing currently obsolete that you have mentioned is that Windows XP laptop. You may want to check and see if a laptop that old will be able to run Windows 10.

Just FYI, the folks at Steinberg regularly update the software. There was, several years ago now, a version of Cubase that did work with Windows XP (I think it was Cubase SX3 to show you how long ago it was). Just a little perspective XP was new when the original Motif first hit the market in 2001 (fourteen years ago). Much has changed in the world of computers since that time. Very few things today can run on Windows XP (any more) - they slip into the rear view mirror (the programmer's term is they become "non-compliant"). It will be important to stay abreast of computer Operating System versions and compatible versions of the software you are going to run... as both are in a constant state of movement. This is fundamentally the responsibility of the user. (And while you may have thought you had good reason *not* to update to some of the interim Windows versions like, Vista, or even Windows 7, etc., etc... you cannot remain fourteen years in the past and expect things to (continue to) run completely smoothly. While it has (on rare occasions) happened - it is not so in this case. In computer time, 18 months is a lifetime!!!) Fourteen years is a millennium!)

Nothing has been announced about compatibility or incompatibility with Windows 10 quite yet... but "obsolete"? No way... Way too soon to be obsolete. Way too soon to be announce compatibility, even. By the time it is released officially, you will start to see results of testing _ what works, what doesn't, what is going to be fixed and the approximate timeline about when (this is standard operating procedure in such matters).

If you have specific concerns about running Cubase on your current or future hardware (computer), contact Steinberg directly via your MySteinberg Account (email), they will be able to help you select a computer and corresponding operating system for the version of Cubase you wish to run. They may even have a solution for your ancient XP laptop... No harm in asking them. They will be able to explain in detail why a particular version of software can or cannot run under certain operating systems and older hardware. But know that the matching of hardware, operating systems, and software versions is something you cannot take lightly. One to five years behind "the latest" should still easily be a fully operable maximum distance. However, once you are a full decade or more out of step, you can expect to run into incompatibilities galore. This is simply reality for the pro music market.

When XP was out, SmartMedia cards were still beginning to replace floppy disks, SCSI was found on computers, on Zip drives and Syquest drives... USB thumb drives were not yet a full GB in size... It can be dizzying trying to keep up. SIMMs were in use as sample RAM... There have been many changes in all areas of this music production thing (most severely on the computer side of things). As you are most likely aware, there wasn't a particular focus on musical issues with Windows Vista and all that followed (explains why many stayed with XP), however, enough has changed by now, you may find lots of incompatibilities with older hardware and newer software.

Certainly the programmers are tasked with making the software work with current and ever newer operating systems... At some point they have to let older systems fall away into non-compliance-ville, simply, it becomes impossible to maintain newly added features in the now antique OSs of older hardware computers.